Cathy Romano, left, and Elana Olcott smile as Olcott received a $300 award for bowling a perfect game at Romano’s Saranac Lanes — the first woman to do so since Romano’s opened its doors 19 years ago. (Enterprise photo — Chris Gaige)

SARANAC LAKE — Sunday was a very special day for Elana Olcott and Romano’s Saranac Lanes.

Olcott bowled a perfect 300 — recording 12 strikes in a row. The feat, even among professional bowlers, is extremely rare. Over its 19 years in operation, Romano’s has seen a handful of perfect games, but until Sunday, those had all been recorded by men. Olcott’s herculean feat made her the first woman to add her name to that wall, a first that owners Jeff and Cathy Romano had been eagerly waiting a long time to see.

The perfect game came during a bowling tournament, and the room erupted in applause as the final pins fell. Shortly after, Olcott was presented with a $300 check from owners Jeff and Cathy Romano as an award for her perfection.

Olcott has been bowling since she was 4, and had bowled a 300 game only once before, although not at Romano’s. She said this was her first year bowling at Romano’s and bowling a 300 had been a goal of hers.

“I put in for a challenge that by the end of this season, I would do it,” she said.

Olcott said as she worked up to her last roll, the pressure was mounting. Olcott had to step back for a minute to gather her nerves. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Sunday’s tournament was one of the last scheduled for this bowling season.

Recounting the game’s final moments, Olcott said time seemed to stand still.

“When I got up there, I just hoped and prayed when I let it go that it was going to be a good ball,” she said. “And then I stood and I just watched and then the whole house started yelling.”

Olcott said the camaraderie in that moment was one of her favorite aspects of the game, and has helped make bowling a lifelong passion of hers.

“The competitiveness, the sportsmanship, just cheering on each other,” she said. “You may not even know a person and you can be best friends by the end of the day, just through bowling.”